Roswell Fanatics

Coming Home- Sequel to What Can’t Be

Disclaimer: I do not own Roswell…as usual, I own nothing but thousands of dollars on Student Loans
Coupling: Maria/Valenti
Rating: Adult (what do you think )
Summary: Sequel to “What Can’t Be” which you should read first: viewtopic.php?t=13384 It takes place 5 years after the first story, and Maria left for New York City after Graduation…
A/N: Ok…so after some encouragement from the lovely people who read my first Maria/Valenti fic, I’ve decided to write a sequel…I’m very excited about it, and I really hope you all enjoy it, let me know what you think…



Chapter 1

Maria stared out of the window of the tour bus she had called home for the last 4 months. Her life had been one constant roller coaster for 5 years. She could still remember the day she left Roswell. The day after graduation, against her mother’s wishes, she got on a bus and left.

It broke her heart to leave, home. Most of all it nearly tore her apart to leave Jim Valenti, the only man she ever truly loved. But a month after she had shared the most amazing night of her life with him, she left. She had dreams, and he wanted her to reach her goals, so she left.

She met up with Billy when she got into town, and the two of them struggled to make a place in the music industry for the next 3 years. It had been a tough road, but both of them had come through. First, Billy was signed to a band, then two weeks later, Maria got a record deal. The sexy singer/songwriter thing was back in fashion, and she benefited from it.

But now she was heading back to the place that held so many memories and fears for her. Roswell, New Mexico was the last stop on her American tour. A sort of ‘end in the place you started’ kind of thing. She had been biting her nails since they left Dallas, which had been the site of her previous stop.

She was going home, and that scared the crap out of her. She had no clue what she was going to do. How was she going to handle seeing her? How was he going to handle seeing her? Especially with the news she had to share with him? Kyle was still living in Roswell, how would he take the news? She didn’t want to lose him. He had been a great friend to her, but after she left Roswell, he had kept in contact with her, when all of her other friends had dropped off the face of the earth. Michael called her twice, still pissed that she left. Isabel called a few more times. Max called once to ask if the FBI was following her, and Liz never called. Not one time.

She watched the mile markers pass her. She was only an hour outside of Roswell. An hour from her fate, and from the man who she longed to touch the minute she left his house the morning after they made love. She sighed deeply, and felt the child in her lap move in her sleep.

She smiled down at her daughter. She was beautiful. Her golden curls framed her face and she looked like an angel. She leaned over and kissed her four year old child’s head and smiled as she squirmed in her sleep. Then her glance went back to the window, watching each mile pass with rapid intensity.

********

“DAD!” Kyle called into his father’s house. “Dad! Where are you?” he asked excited.

Jim came out of his bedroom to the living room where his son was waving two envelopes in his face. “What’s up, Kyle?” he asked.

“Maria is coming to town!” he said jovially. Jim’s breath caught, but he tried to keep the shock off of his face as his son continued. “She is ending her tour here. She is playing tomorrow and she sent us two tickets and two backstage passes!” Kyle was so excited. He hadn’t seen Maria in 5 years, and he missed her. He kept in touch with her, calling and writing at least once a month, but he had never gotten a chance to visit her.

Jim smiled at his son, “Who are you taking?” he asked.

“What? You, you idiot,” his son laughed. “She wanted both of us to come.” He said. His father was being weird all of a sudden.

“Oh,” Jim said, trying to sound nonchalant. In reality his heart was racing, and he could barely keep his feet under him. Maria was going to be in town. She wanted him to come and see her. He didn’t know if his heart could take it. “Well, that sounds fun,” he finally said.

“Dad, you feeling ok?” Kyle asked, looking at his father suspiciously.

Jim laughed nervously. “I’m fine, Kyle. Just surprised. Maria hasn’t been in town for a long time,” he said patting Kyle on the back. “It’s great. So, when is this show?”

“7:00.” Kyle answered. “But hey, I got you get back to the shop. Just wanted to leave these with you. I’ll be back over for dinner.” Kyle smiled. Jim nodded and hugged him as his son left. He and Kyle had dinner 2 nights a week. He knew Kyle worried about him. He always asked why he didn’t date, and truth be told, he just had no desire to date anyone. He knew who he loved, and if he couldn’t have her, he wasn’t going to date a bunch of runner-ups.

Amy DeLuca had asked him out several times, but that was just way to weird for him. There was no way he could honestly go on a date with Maria’s mother. Amy ended up moving to California about a year after Maria left for New York, anyway.

Jim sighed and flopped down on the couch. What was he going to say to Maria? What was she going to say to him? How was he going to stay calm, cool, and collected around her? There was no doubt that Maria was probably more beautiful than when she left, and he knew that knowing what it was like to make love to her, he would have a hard on from the time he saw her, until he could go home and relieve himself like a stupid high school dork.

********

Maria’s bus pulled into the one hotel in Roswell, around 8:00 at night. Her label had rented the entire hotel, to make sure she wasn’t harassed when she got there. The Tumbleweed Inn was no Hilton, so it would be easy for a crazy fan to get to her. So they rented the whole thing out for the 3 nights she would need to be there, and set up security.

This was what she hated about show business. She loved writing music, singing, playing piano, and guitar, but all the bull-shit involved with being a celebrity sucked, and the crazy people who tried to stalk her were borderline scary. About 6 months ago she had to go to trial to testify against a man who had broken into her house and tried to kidnap her daughter, Anna. She had been petrified. In the end the guy was given 30 years.

She walked into her room and flopped down on the bed. Anna was up and at ‘em having taken a long nap on the bus, and she started jumping up and down on the bed, “Momma…what are we doing tomorrow?” she asked.

Maria smiled at her and tackled her daughter, tickling her until she squealed with delight. She stopped her torture and pulled the small blue-eyed girl into her lap, “Well, mommy is going to rehearse while you play with Duncan,” Maria said. Duncan was one of her roadie’s sons. He was 5, and Anna and Duncan had a lot of fun together. She remembered when her roadie, Bill asked her, terrified if he could come on the road with them. She said absolutely, without a second thought. It turned out that the last artist he worked for fired him after he asked to bring Duncan with him. His wife was sick, and she couldn’t take care of him all by herself.

“Goody!” Anna exclaimed. “Then what?”

“Well, mommy has a show tomorrow night, but I’ll probably take you to a place where mommy used to work, called the Crashdown.” Maria said.

“Is that where the aliens are, momma?” her daughter asked.

“Well, not anymore. The aliens are all gone,” she assured her daughter. Yeah, in San Francisco and Denver, she thought with a laugh. “But mommy knows the owners,” she explained.

“Ok,” Anna said. “Can we watch Puff?” she asked even more excitedly.

Mara grinned at her daughter. Since she could talk, Anna always asked to watch “Puff the Magic Dragon” which had also been Maria’s favorite movie as a child. “Sure, baby.” She said, getting up to pull out the video.

The mother and daughter sat on Anna’s bed and watched the movie, singing along with it, and talking to the screen. Before the movie ended, Anna fell asleep, and Maria tucked her in. “Nighty night, baby” she said kissing her forehead.

Anna snuggled into her pillow and was off in la-la land. Maria turned off the TV and climbed in her own bed. She still couldn’t believe she was here. She almost laughed out-loud when she realized that she was in the same exactly room she and Michael had been in when they looked for ‘clues’ about Tapolski. That was so long ago. It seemed like a lifetime.

She tried to clear her head of all of those thoughts. They all made her thing of Jim, and if she ever wanted to sleep, she had to stop. Finally, after many deep breathing exercises, she felt sleep overcome her.

TBC…

A/N: The two songs in this chapter are actually: Forever Love (digame) by Anna Nalick and Anna Rose by Vienna Teng.

Chapter 2

The next day, Jim looked into his closet for something to wear. It was a good thing Kyle wasn’t there, or he would really think his father was loony. He had every article of clothing he owned strewn on the bed. But he couldn’t help it, he wanted to look good for Maria. He was more than sure that she had moved on, though he had no idea.

To tell the truth, Jim had purposely not looked too much into anything dealing with Maria. When her songs came on the radio, he turned the station. When she appeared on Entertainment Tonight, he changed the channel. He just couldn’t bear seeing her or hearing her beautiful voice. He loved her, and since he couldn’t have her, he didn’t want to know the many handsome, rich men in Hollywood she was dating.

Kyle, luckily, never really told him anything about the letters he exchanged with her, probably because he figured his father didn’t care. It wasn’t that he didn’t care. It was that he DID care. “Fuck,” Jim sighed looking though all of his clothes again. At least he had about 5 more hours to decided what the hell he was going to wear. Maybe he should just skip out on this whole thing. No, he couldn’t do that. Even if he really wanted to, Kyle would kick his ass.

********

“Is this the Cashdown, momma?” Anna asked excitedly as Maria picked her up in her arms and carried her into the dinner. They were getting an early dinner because Maria didn’t like to eat too close to a show.

“It’s the CRASHdown, baby,” Maria giggled at her daughter. Maria took a moment to look around the place she used to spend so much time. A tear came down her cheek as she noticed that the Parkers hadn’t changed anything about it. Including the hyper high school girls in their antenna head-bands.

“Maria DeLuca!” Maria heard a deep voice exclaim. She looked up, afraid it was another stalker, but her lips spread in a huge grin when she saw Jeff Parker walking to her.

“Mr. P!” she cried, setting down Anna as she hugged the man who was as much a father to her as anyone. “I thought you would have sold this place by now,” she joked, knowing that Jeff would sooner die than give up the Crashdown.

“You know better than that,” he said directing her to a booth. Anna held tight to her mother’s hand. “And who is this?” Jeff asked smiling at Anna.

“This is my very adorable, very incorrigible daughter, Anna.” Maria said.

“Well, Anna,” Jeff said to the little girl, “I’m your grandpa Jeff, and I’ve missed out on spoiling you, so how about a hot fudge Sunday?” he exclaimed. Maria laughed, but tears stung her eyes once again as she watched Jeff with her daughter. Anna hadn’t had a real family. She had Maria and Billy, who was great with her, but it was so heart-warming to see Jeff treat her like he had always known her.

Anna nodded excitedly looking at Maria for permission. “Well,” Maria said faking thought, “Ok, but just a little one, and only after you eat a real dinner,” she said.

“Ok, momma,” Anna huffed, in true DeLuca form.

“Ok, what can I get you?” Jeff asked in full waiter mode.

Maria giggled and said, “I’ll have a Sigorney Weaver. Anna just wants chicken fingers. And two diet cokes.” Maria said with a smile.

“Coming up,” Jeff said with a smile.

“I like grandpa Jeff,” Anna whispered to Maria. She smiled at her daughter and ran her fingers through her unruly hair.

“Me too,” Maria said kissing her forehead.

*********

Maria kissed her daughter and handed her off to the nanny that had been hired to watch her when Maria was working. “Break-a-leg, momma,” Anna said kissing her mother on the cheek. Then Maria retreated into her dressing room to warm up.

20 minutes until she took the stage. She took a deep breath and pulled out the cedar oil she always kept on hand. She was getting much better about her stage fright, to the point that it barely bothered her anymore, but tonight was special. She was back in Roswell, and Jim was in the audience. Or at least she hoped he was. Kyle said he was coming, but what if he didn’t.

She silently scolded herself and told herself to get her act together. She had a show to do, and needed to focus.

She ran through a few songs on the piano, and warmed up her voice before heading to the wings of the stage. The crowd was huge. She vaguely remembered being told that she had sold out both shows in Roswell in record time. None of that really mattered to her at that point. She was singing for one person tonight.

“Ms. DeLuca, are you ready?” Her stage manager asked.

Maria smiled and nodded at him.

********

Jim sat in his seat, near the front row, dead center and waited for Maria to take the stage. Kyle was ecstatic, and Jim smiled at his son. He knew that Kyle missed Maria, maybe not as much as he did, but he did miss her. All his friends left him back in Roswell without a second thought. Maria was the only one that made an effort to keep in touch. It was ironic, because Maria was the busiest one of them all.

When the announcer introduced Maria, the crowd got on their feet and cheered. The sound was deafening, and all Jim could thing was how proud he was that she had been able to live her dreams. This is what he wanted for her, and he was glad that she had achieved it.

Then he saw her. She walked gently out on the stage, and it was as if the whole world stopped. If he thought she had been beautiful 5 years ago, he didn’t have words for her now. She had such grace and stage presence, that he could hardly believe he was looking at the same woman. She was gorgeous. Her blond hair was slightly darker, and much longer, falling to her mid back. It was relaxed in messy curls, and all he could think was how much he wanted to run his fingers through it.

As she begin singing, he was struck dumb, listening her to melodic voice sing lyrics of pain, love, loss, and happiness. She sang through several songs before even saying a word, and then she turned to the audience.

Still sitting at the piano she had been playing like a pro, she reached for her mike and smiled at the audience. “How’s everyone doing tonight?” she asked. The crowed cheered yet again, and she chuckled into the mike. That laugh that always left him weak in the knees was no different.

“Ok, well I’ve got a special song to sing for you next. I wrote this when I first moved out to New York City. When I was still a starving artist,” she laughed. “It’s dedicated to someone special, who knows who he is,” she smiled. She returned to the piano and place her microphone in the stand and started to play.

Jim watched her as she played the intro to this song that was obviously special to her and then she began singing. He listened hard to the lyrics:

On the ground
With my world
Upside down
I got a vision of your face
And I must get me out
For so many memories we've yet to make
God don't send to me your angels
I just wanna hear you say again

Forever love
Say you'll love
Dígame, Dígame
Tell me so
I can hold you in my soul
If I go
I'll know

Jim’s heart swelled at her words. He knew she was singing to him. He didn’t know how, but he knew. She had written this song for him, and she wanted him to hear it. Did that mean there was still something there? He prayed there was, and at the same time the thought scared him to death.

When you smile
With those eyes
Baby it's like
You place a finger on my heart
And your lips next to mine
Make me think that maybe heavens where you are
God don't send to me your angels
I just wanna hear you say again

Forever love
Say you'll love
Dígame, Dígame
Tell me so
I can hold you in my soul
And if I go
I'll know

La la la la...

As she sang, she hoped Jim was in the audience. She wanted him to know that she was still his. That no matter what had happened in the 5 years she had been gone, she wanted to come home to him, if he would still have her.

Forever love
Say you'll love
Dígame, Dígame
Tell me so
I can hold you in my soul
And If I go
I know
Forever love
Say you'll love
Dígame, Dígame
Tell me so
I can hold you in my soul
And if I go
I'll know

She ended the song and the crowd roared. They loved it, and while Maria was pleased, she just hoped the one person it was intended for liked it, and was moved by it.

Kyle leaned over to her father and said, “Damn, Michael really did a number on her, eh? Wish she would get over him.”

Jim faked a smile and nodded. He had forgotten his son was even next to him, he was so wrapped up in Maria and her beautiful song. He almost laughed at his son’s ignorance. But then he remembered, there is no way that Kyle could possibly know the song was about him, because Kyle had no clue Jim and Maria were even close, let along one time lovers.

Maria sang through several more songs before she got to her second to last song of the night. “Ok, I wrote this song about six months ago,” she explained to the audience. “I was watching my beautiful daughter sleep, and it just came to me. I hope you like it,” she said smiling at the audience. In side she was scared to death. What would Jim say about her having a daughter? Would he do the math and figure it out? And Kyle, in all the times she had talked to him, he had never mentioned her daughter. She knew Kyle had to know about her. Maria and Anna were all over the Entertainment shows all the time, but Kyle never brought it up.

“The song is called Anna Rose, after my precious daughter that is the center of my universe,” Maria said and then turned back to the piano.

Jim looked up at Maria and felt slightly discouraged. She had a daughter, who must have had a father, which meant Maria was probably seeing someone, if not married. But If she were married, Kyle would have probably told him, right? Then again, he never told him Maria had a daughter. His thoughts stopped as she began to sing.

Anna Rose sleep well tonight
the stars are dancing on the carpet of the sky
time to close your wondering eyes
where I see the sleepiness creeping

Anna Rose it makes my heart smile
to know you give love so freely
Anna Rose it makes it worthwhile
your love makes me see things so clearly
how it grows heaven knows
Anna Rose sleep well tonight

Anna Rose it's time to dream
I see that your imagination knows no bounds
there it flows like some magical stream
and carries you on its journey

Anna Rose it makes my heart smile
to know you give love so freely
Anna Rose it makes it worthwhile
your love makes me see things so clearly
how it grows heaven knows
Anna Rose dream well tonight

Maria finished the song and smiled, thinking about Anna. She really was Maria’s world. Maria got her emotions under control and sang her last song. When she was done, the crowd roared, including Kyle and Jim. She received a 10 minute standing ovation and thanked the audience before leaving the stage.

Her manager handed her a bottle of water, and Anna, and her nanny were sitting in h er dressing room. “Good job, mommy,” Anna said wrapping her arms around Maria’s neck like a monkey. “I like when you sing the song about me,” she beamed.

Maria smiled and held her daughter tight. “Thank you, baby,” she said. “I’ve got some friends coming back to see us, soon,” she told her daughter. “They were mommy’s friends when she was younger.”

Ever the lovely hostess, Anna jumped up and down in excitement.

*********

“This way,” Kyle called to his father who was trailing behind. The security guard had pointed him in the direction of Maria’s dressing room, having been given both of their names in advance.

Jim just followed his son, butterflies fluttering in his stomach. This was it, the moment he had been both longing for and dreading all at the same time. “Here we go,” Kyle said knocking on the door that had Maria’s name printed neatly on it.

“One sec,” they heard a muffled female voice call out. Soon, Maria swung the door open and saw Kyle. “HEY!” she screamed wrapping her arms around him. She pulled him in and Jim followed.

When Maria let Kyle go, she looked over and saw Jim standing there. He had come. Her lips turned up into a smile as she looked at him. “Hi, Jim,” she said almost shy. She didn’t know why she was acting like she was back in high school, but he seemed to have that effect on her. No reason to be rude, she thought as she moved into him, hugging him tightly. She breathed in his masculine scent and nearly lost her mind. He smelled the same as he did 5 years ago, and the scent still had an overpowering effect on her.

Jim stood their shocked for just a second before hugging her back. He loved the feeling of her body pressed against his, and he would take it anyway he could get it. “I’m so glad you guys could make it!” Maria smiled.

“Yeah, what is this about a daughter?” Kyle asked winking at her. He had always known Maria had a daughter, but since she didn’t say anything, he didn’t. He figured she was Michael’s or Billy’s and if Maria wanted to talk about it, she would have said something. Kyle wasn’t much for confrontation.

“Yeah, sorry,” Maria said looking down. “Anna!” she called out behind her. Within seconds a beautiful blonde girl with the most piercing blue eyes ran out from the back of the dressing room.

“Mommy, are these your friends?” the girl asked. Maria smiled and nodded.

“Yep,” Maria said, “This is mommy’s friend Kyle, from high school.” Maria said introducing the two of them.

“Well, Anna, it’s nice to meet you,” Kyle said with a goofy grin, “Man, you are just a pretty as your mom, aren’t you?” he smiled. Maria blushed slightly, and this didn’t go unnoticed by Jim. However Jim’s main focus was on the child in Maria’s arms. She was about 4 years old he guessed, and the question was hanging on the tip of his tongue, it was all he could do not to ask, was she his? He realized he was being stupid. Just because he wanted the beautiful girl to be his daughter, a daughter he shared with Maria, he knew it just wasn’t the case. Wishful thinking, but no more.

“And this,” Maria said turning to Jim, “I’m mommy’s very good friend, Mr. Valenti,” she said with tears shinning in her eyes. He was so much more than Mr. Valenti, but she needed to talk to Jim before she went on.

“Hello, Anna.” Jim said with a smile, “Did you know my mother’s name was Anna?”

Anna shook her head vigorously, “Was she a princess? Mommy’s friend Mr. Parker said I was a princess!” Anna said.

Jim smiled warmly at the girl, “You are a princess,” he said, “And my mom was too,” he lied. She had been a princess to him, and that was all that mattered.

“So, where are you staying?” Kyle asked turning Maria’s attention back to him. She seemed to be staring at his father a lot. He didn’t think too deeply on it. It was probably just because she hadn’t talk to him in 5 years.

:”Ummm the Tumbleweed,” Maria smirked, “We had to rent the whole thing out for safety,” she chuckled. An old cop instinct in Jim didn’t like her staying there alone. Sure, she had body guards, but her remembered a time when he was her primary protector, and the instinct was still ingrained in him.

“That sucks,” Kyle said.

Jim nodded in agreement, and before he could stop the words from leaving his lips he said, “Why don’t you stay with me.” Maria’s eyes doubled in size, and Jim tried to explain, “I mean, if it is ok with your bodyguards. Cause I mean it’s stupid to stay alone at the Tumbleweed if you could stay someplace more like home. And no one would know where you are,” Jim went on, almost rambling.

Kyle laughed at his dad, “Yep, Maria’s back, the rambling has commenced.

“Shut up,” Maria said smacking Kyle on the arm. She turned back to Jim and said, “Yeah, I mean that sounds good,” in reality, it was perfect. She needed to talk to Jim alone, and this would be perfect. “If you are sure.”

“I’m sure,” he said with more confidence, glad that Maria had decided to take him up on his offer.

“What do you think, baby?” she asked Anna, “You wanna stay with Mr. Valenti?”

Anna yawned and nodded, “Yeah!” she said with as much excitement as her tired body would allow. Maria knew Anna hated staying in Hotels as much as she did.

“Ok, well I you just give me a few minutes to get things straightened up in here, we can go.” Maria said, “I’ll talk to Mark, my bodyguard, he will want to talk to you.” Maria went over to Mark and pointed at Kyle and Jim before taking Anna with her to clean up her dressing room.

Mark made his way over to the two men and said, “Hi, I’m Ms. DeLuca’s bodyguard, Mark.” He said extending his hand. Kyle and Jim both shook it and he continued, “I understand you are close friends of Maria’s, that is why I’m not going to make a big deal about her staying with you,” he said.

Jim was kind of perturbed that Maria would need his permission, but he just nodded, as Mark continued, “The thing is, Maria has gotten a few harassing letters, and phone calls lately, and I just want to make sure you are able to keep an eye on her,” Mark said.

Jim nodded, “I used to be sheriff of Roswell,” he explained, “You have my word that I’ll protect her,” he said. He was surprised to head that there were people harassing Maria. He hadn’t thought about it, but it made sense. They were in her home town and she was a big music star.

“Ok, good,” Mark smiled, relaxing. “Then I guess I can share a little information with the both of you,” Jim waited to head what Mark had to say. “There was another letter that came in last night. I intercepted it before it got to her, so don’t tell her, but I think we are dealing with another stalker.” He informed them.

“Excuse me, another one?” Kyle said almost incredulously. He hadn’t heard about that one.

Mark nodded, “Well, there have been a few, but the one I’m referring to, broke into her home in New York City and almost kidnapped Anna. I got there in time, and we got him locked up, but these letters she has been getting lately have seemed to have a similar theme, so I think we are talking about one person.” Mark said.

Jim nodded, in full on Sheriff mode. No matter what was going on between him and Maria, he was going to protect her with his life. “You think I could get copies of those letters.”

Kyle was just as worried about Maria, but he couldn’t help but chuckle at his dad’s protector instinct. “Yeah, I’ll get them to you tomorrow,” Mark said before leaving Kyle and Jim alone.

“I’m glad Ria is staying with you. It is stupid for her to stay at the tumbleweed,” Kyle said. Jim just nodded. His interest was focused on Maria, who was making her way back over to them. Anna had her jacket on, and they looked like they were ready to go.

“Ready?” Maria asked with a beautiful smile.

Jim nodded and placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her out the back of the venue. The sparks that shot through their bodies didn’t go unnoticed by either of them

TBC…

Chapter 3

Jim pulled up to his house with Maria, Anna, and Kyle. Kyle had driven with his father to the show and left his car at Jim’s house. He opened his door and then the back door to help Maria out of the car. Maria was holding her sleeping daughter in her arms. She smiled and stepped out of the car, and the three of them walked up to the house.

“Well, I think I’m going to call it a night,” Kyle said heading over to his car. “You are probably really tired. We’ll catch up tomorrow,” Kyle smiled.

“Ok,” Maria said as she kissed him on the cheek. “I’ve got a show tomorrow, but sicne I’ve done the sound check, I’m basically free most of the day.” She smiled.

“Ok, well I’ll come by here on my lunch break,” Kyle promised as he got into her car and drove away. Maria turned back to Jim, and he looked back at her intently. He opened his door and flipped on the light in the living room as Maria followed him inside.

“You wanna put her in Kyle’s room?” he asked awkwardly as he motioned to the sleeping girl in Maria’s arms. Maria smiled and nodded as she headed up the stairs to Kyle’s old room. She laid Anna in the bed and kissed her forehead.

“Night, baby.” She whispered as she turned the light off and walked out of the room. She took a deep breath before descending the stairs. She needed to talk to Jim, but she didn’t know what she was going to say. No matter how many times she had gone over this moment in her head over the past 5 years, she still didn’t know how she was going to explain herself to the man she loved.

As she stepped into the lit living room, she looked for Jim, but couldn’t find him. She looked around, and finally heard the fridge door open. She smiled and walked into the kitchen. “You…uhhh, want a drink?” Jim asked nervously as he cracked open a beer. He defiantly needed some alcohol at this moment.

“I’ll take one of those,” she said with a smirk, and he quickly pulled her out a beer and opened it for her before handing it to her. “Thanks,” she said quietly as they walked into the living room. They nervously sat on the couch, in an excruciating silence.

Why was this so awkward? Why was it so hard? She had envisioned the moment she was reunited with Jim to be romantic, and filled with them ripping each other’s clothes off with desire. Instead, she was sitting there, terrified of what she was going to say, and how he was going to react. “Jim, we need to talk,” she finally said taking a deep breath.

”I know,” he replied quietly. He turned into her, and she looked back at him.

Maria smiled at him, “There is so much I need to say to you.” She started, “ but most importantly, there is a secret I’ve been keeping from you for almost 5 years.”

“It’s ok, you can tell me anything,” Jim said, trying to give her a reassuring smile, but he was just as scared as she was. What was this secret she had to tell him? He hoped it didn’t break his heart.

“Anna is your daughter,” she blurted out as she brought the bottle of beer up to her lips. She nearly downed the whole thing before turning back to him.

Jim stared at Maria in shock. Sure, the thought had crossed his mind, but he didn’t actually think it was true. He had a daughter. He and Maria shared a child. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to react.

“Oh, Please say something,” Maria said nervously as Jim was just sitting there with his mouth hanging open.

“Umm, well, I don’t know what to say.” Jim said slowly.

“I know I should have told you. But…but when I found out I was pregnant, when I was in New York, I was scared. I talked to Billy. He’s the only one who knows about us, and he said, that if I were to go back to Roswell, I’d beat myself and you up over it forever. As time went on, it got harder and harder to tell you the truth. I’ve written so many letters trying to tell you. And I know that doesn’t offer you much solace.” Maria rambled, “but I love you. I’ve always loved you and I always will love you, and I couldn’t be happier about having a piece of you with me always…”

Her ramblings were cut short when Jim pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. Maria felt at home once again as her body melted into his. As his tongue messaged hers, she wondered how she had gone all this time without feeling his kiss.

He broke away from her, breathlessly, and said, “Maria, I love you too. I haven’t been on a single date since you left. And it’s true, if you had returned to Roswell, you would have never been happy. You needed to live our dreams. I wish I had known I had a daughter.” Jim said holding her tightly.

“I know, and I wish I had told you, because I realize, now, that my dream has always been you. And having a family with you.” Maria said. “I love my job, but I love you more,” Maria said kissing him lightly.

Jim’s heart soared at her revelation. “Who does she think is her father?” Jim asked.

“She doesn’t know. I haven’t been able to tell her, and I thought I needed to tell you first.” Maria said, “Telling her is going to be hard,” Maria said. “And Kyle is going to find out,” she went on, tears coming to her eyes, “And he is going to hate me.”

“No he wont,” Jim said, not so sure himself. “Maria, you have been a great friend to him. He loves you. He is going to be pissed, but he isn’t going to hate you, and I think he will get over it,” he said optimistically. “I want to have a relationship with my daughter. I’ve missed so much of her life.”

“Let’s worry about it tomorrow,” Maria said with a smile. She wasn’t so optimistic, but she wanted to take time to be with Jim, alone. “Tonight, I want to be with you. Just you.” She said snuggling into him.

“You don’t know how many times I’ve dreamed about it,” Jim said cupping her face and bringing it up to his, as he kissed her again.

“Can we take this to the bedroom?” Maria’s husky voice asked. Jim smiled at took her hand, leading her to his bedroom. It looked the same as the last time she saw it, and she smiled. She had made so many memories in that room. She had made her daughter in that room.

Jim led her to the bed, where they sat and looked a each other. They looked into each other’s eyes with intense gazes. They had both been waiting to make love to each other for five years. Maria leaned in, making he first move, as she lightly brushed his lips with hers.

Jim deepened the kiss, darting his tongue out to lick her lips. She immediately opened her mouth to grant him entrance. His hands moved to her hair, as he ran his fingers through it, the way he had wanted to since he has seen her take the stage. “Mmm,” she moaned, loving the feeling of his fingers in her hair. She moved her hands to the crisp button down shirt he was wearing. She began unbuttoning it, slowly, seductively.

Jim sighed as he moved his hands to the hem of the tee-shirt she had put on after her show. He pulled it over her head, just as she got the last of his buttons undone. She looked at him and smiled as she pushed the material off his shoulders and watched it fall to the floor. “You’ve been working out,” she joked as she looked at his very fit body.

“I’ve had a lot of free time,” he quipped with a smirk. He unhooked her bra, and watched in awe as her breasts came into view. They were larger than he remembered, probably from having his child, and his desire rose at the thought of her pregnant with his daughter. He leaned in and kissed her hungrily as his hands moved to cup her breasts.

“Jim…” she breathed as his kissed her neck roughly. Her hands moved down the smooth skin of his back as she pulled him closer to her, wanting to feel his naked skin pressed to her. Jim pushed her back on the bed as he continued to attack her neck.

Maria spread her legs to let him settle in between them. “I’ve missed this so much,” Maria nearly moaned as she pulled his head up to look at her.

“Me too, baby. More than you know,” he said honestly as he kissed her again. Her hands moved to the front of his pants. She deftly unbutton his pants and pulled down the zipped relieving some of he tension his jeans were causing on his aching erection. “Mmm,” he groaned as she pushed his jeans off his hips and quickly removed her pants.

“Jim, please fuck me,” Maria growled, he eyes long since dark with lust. Jim grinned at her, loving the way she talked dirty when they were in bed. She pushed his boxers off of him, grabbing his cock in her hands.

“Baby, you have to let go if you want this to last,” he almost begged. She reluctantly tel go of him and allowed him to remove her lace panties. He traced his fingers over the faint, barely there, stretch marks on her lower stomach. “Is this from Anna?” he asked, knowing the answer. Maria nodded and he smiled. “I wish I could have seen you pregnant.”

Maria sat up and moved back on the bed, so her head was on the pillows. She pulled Jim down on her and said, “Maybe you still can someday.” She wanted to have more children, and while she knew that Jim was older, she still wanted to have more children with him.

Jim grinned back at her, surprised to hear that she was willing to have more children. He greedily devoured her mouth with his. He once again moved between her legs and she spread them wide, bucking into him. She needed to feel him inside her again. “Please…” she begged.

Jim kissed her as he took his cock in hand and moved it to her entrance. Her slick walls were so wet, and as he sunk into her, he groaned her name. They both felt so complete at that moment. A void in both of them had been filled as they came together for the first time in 5 years.

“Oh Jim,” she moaned as he pulled out of her slowly, and then plunged back into her.

“Maria, I love you,” Jim breathed with shakey breath as he moved in and out of her.

“Faster, baby,” Maria pleaded as she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing his mouth down to hers.

Jim pumped in and out of her with greater force, reveling in the feeling of being completely inside the one woman that he loved with his whole heart. “Fuck,” he groaned feeling his orgasm approaching. He had just been waiting for this for too long to hold back.

Maria bucked wildly into him. “Fuck Jim, right there,” she growled as she felt herself rapidly approaching her breaking point. “Oh god!”

“Maria, fuck, I’m gonna…” Jim moaned loudly as he felt her walls flutter around him, then he knew that she was almost there as well. “Oh Fuck! Baby, that feels so gooooood!” He moaned as he emptied himself inside her.

Maria quickly followed, nearly screaming, “Oh Baby, YES!” as she came hard around him and as he slumped over on her, tired from their excursions, she smiled against the skin of his shoulder.

“Wow, that was better than I remembered,” she said with a chuckle. Jim smiled and rolled off of her, as he pulled her into his arms. He raised his hand and used his powers to flip off the light. Maria looked at him shocked.

He laughed, realizing that she didn’t know about his powers. “When Max healed me at Meta-chem, I got some powers like Liz.” He said. “Kyle’s got his own as well.”

“Wow,” Maria said, shocked. “So, what can you do?”

“Well, that cool light thing. I can manipulate molecular structures, and create a force field.” Jim said.

“And Kyle and Liz, what all can they do? The same things?” Maria asked, highly interested in this whole thing.

“Kyle can read auras, change molecular structures, and heal small wounds.” Jim said, “And Liz can see the future when she touches people, chance molecular structures and send out electric shocks.”

“Damn,” Maria said with a laugh. “I wonder if this will pass on to Anna?”

“Who knows,” Jim said holding her tightly. “I’ve learned to stop trying to guess,” he laughed.

Maria smiled and snuggled into him. “I really want to do this again, but I’m so tired,” she whined.

“We’ve got plenty of time, baby,” Jim said kissing her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere.” And that was the truth. He couldn’t let Maria go now even if he had to.

TBC…

Chapter 4

About 5 in the morning, Maria’s eyes fluttered open. She smiled at Him who was still sound asleep. He was so beautiful and he felt so right in her arms. She knew what just by making love last night didn’t mean that everything was fixed. They still had a lot of issues to work out.

She smiled and slipped out of his arms, not wanting to wake him. An idea for a song came to her and she wanted to write it down while it was still fresh in her mind. Jim was dead to the world, so he didn’t even notice her stand up and pull on his shirt from the night before.

First she walked up to kyle’s room and checked on Anna. She was still fast asleep. She had kicked her covers off of her, like she always did, and Maria tucked her back in and kissed her on the cheek before she shut the door.

She slowly padded out of the room and into the living room where she picked up a pencil off the coffee table and a notebook.

She curled up on the couch and began writing. It was a song for Jim, and she continued to write for about 3 hours until she heard someone enter the room. She looked up and saw Jim standing in the doorway looking at her. He was smiling and she blushed under his intense gaze. “What ya doin’?” he asked.

Maria quickly closed the notebook and smiled back. “Nothin’,” she said. “I’m just an early riser.” She got up off the couch and made her way over to Jim. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face down to hers, kissing him deeply.

“Mmm, morning,” he said happily, still in awe of the fact that she was here, with him, in his house the morning after.

Suddenly, they hear little feet padding down the stairs. “Mommy, why are you kissing Mr. Valenti?” Anna’s tired voice asked. Maria’s eyes doubled and then she burst into laughter. She looked at Jim who nodded to her, and they made their way to the couch.

“Come here, baby. Mommy had something to tell you.” Maria said as the girl approached, she picked her up in her arms and sat Anna on her lap. Anna looked up at her with big eyes and Jim sat there nervously. “You remember when mommy told you about your daddy?”

“Yeah,” Anna said cocking her head to the side.

“Mr. Valenti is him. This is your daddy baby,” Maria said, tears coming to her eyes. Anna turned to Jim, and her little mouth turned into a huge smile.

“Daddy?” she said as she jumped off Maria’s lap and into Jim’s arms. Jim couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down his face.

“Yeah,” he said, “I’m your daddy.”

The three shared the touching moment for a while before Maria’s cell phone. “Hello?” she answered untangling herself from Jim and her daughter.

“Hey Ria,” her nanny said. “Mark is coming to pick you up, do you want me get Anna now?”

“Yeah, let me get her ready,” Maria said and clicked off the phone, then she turned back to Anna and Jim. “Ok, Mark is on his way. I need to get some stuff done for promotions, and stuff.”

“Ok, are you coming back tonight after the show?” Jim asked.

“Yeah, Anna and I’ll be back. We can talk more tomorrow. You think you can get Anna ready while I take a shower?” Maria asked. Jim smiled widely and nodded and Anna squealed with excitement and allowed her father to carry her up the stairs.

As he dressed Anna, he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face. It was so surreal to be the father of a young child again. It had been years since Kyle needed help changing. He was almost afraid he wouldn’t remember what to do, but it seemed to be like ridding a bike.

“Does this look good daddy?” Anna asked holding a shirt up in front of her, much like her mom would.

Jim smiled at her, happy to hear her call him daddy. “That is very pretty sweetie,” he said helping her change into the shirt she was changing.

Soon, Maria was ready and the nanny had already taken Anna. Maria heard the bell ring and knowing it was Mark, he let him in. Mark smiled and asked, “Ready?”

“Yep, just one sec,” she said picking up her bag and turning to Jim. “Bye, baby. I’ll be back after my show tonight with Anna. Then we can talk about what we are going to say to Kyle.” Maria said as she quickly kissed him on the lips.

“Oh crap!” Maria said, almost out the door. “Left my cell,” she said returning into Jim’s room.

This left the perfect opportunity for Mark to talk to Jim. “I’ve got copy’s of the letters,” he said pulling a think envelope out of his waistband. Jim smiled at him and threw the envelope on the table. “I know you care about her,” Mark said, giving Jim a knowing look. “So I trust you. See, Maria is the only client I’ve worked for that I actually care about. It isn’t just a job. I feel like Anna is one of my own, and Maria is my friend.”

Jim nodded, “I love you, and trust me, I’ll protect her.” Mark nodded and left it at that as Maria exited the room and walked out the door, leaving him to follow.

Jim plopped down on the couch and opened the letter, but before he could even read a word of them, the phone rang. It was one of the guys in the band. He still played with the Kit Shickers. Carl the drummer wanted to call him and start a practice. Jim huffed but agreed and placed the envelope in his bedroom nightstand and got dressed.

***********

That night, Maria brought in a sleeping Anna and put her to bed and then went straight to Jim’s room. He was sitting in bed reading and she smiled, “Good book?”

“Yep,” Jim smiled closing the book. “But it was starting to get boring,” he laughed.

Maria grinned back at him and said, “So, you ready to put it down?” she asked cocking an eyebrow at him. He didn’t need to answer though, Maria had already pounced on him, the book long forgotten.

***********

The next morning, Maria woke up later, and Jim’s eyes fluttered the moment she tried to sneek out of bed. “Where are you going?” he asked lazily.

“I didn’t want to wake you up,” Maria smiled kissing him lightly.

“I’m up. Want breakfast?” Jim asked sitting up.

“Love some,” Maria said. She was starving. Last nights activities had left her famished, but she had been too tired to eat.

As Jim cooked dinner, Maria left him to put some finishing touches on the song she started the day before. “Baby, it’s ready,” Jim said holing up a plate. Maria put the notebook down again helped him make her plate.

They eat on the couch together, kissing and touching and feeding each other. They were acting like children, and they knew it and loved it. Maria felt at home, and she never wanted to leave that feeling.

Jim felt the same, and for once he didn’t feel lost and forgotten. Maria understood him. Her father left her much like his had left him, and she would always know the pain of losing a parent to something other than death.

After they were done eating, Maria moved into Jim’s lap. “You know we only have a little while before Anna wakes up.”

“What do you want to do,” he joked nipping at Maria’s ear.

Maria just moaned and pressed her lips into his. They stayed like that until a sigh from the door broke them apart. They looked up to see Kyle standing in the doorway. His face showing complete shock and his hand still melded to the door. “What the hell?” he finally asked.

“Kyle, let me explain,” Maria said, her voice catching in her thoat.

TBC…

Chapter 5

Maria quickly untangled herself from Jim and stood up, beginning to make her way over to Kyle, but he stepped away from her. “I thought I saw you making out with my father, but that couldn’t be what I saw.” Kyle said angrily, looking back and forth between Maria and his father.

“Kyle, look…” Maria started, and soon Jim was at her side. This wasn’t just her job to explain.

“Maria and I are together, son,” Jim said calmly. He loved his son, but in the end Kyle had no control over who he loved. And he loved Maria. “We love each other.”

“Wait, WHAT?” Kyle almost yelled, but before anyone could explain further, Anna hopped down the stairs.

“What is Kyle yelling about?” Anna said tugging on Jim’s leg, ready for him to pick her up. He did and she smiled and clung to him. Kyle looked at the two of them with confusion and slight understanding.

“Nothing, baby,” Maria said taking Anna out of Jim’s arms. “Look, maybe we should just go,” she said sadly before picking up her purse and walking over to the door. She looked back at Jim who silently pleaded with her to stay, she shook her head and opened the door.

“Are we coming back to daddy’s?” Anna asked.

Kyle then saw read. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Maria, what is wrong with you? How could you do this?” Kyle yelled. Anna looked at her mother confused and Maria walked out the door.

“Anna doesn’t need to see this. Look, I’ll be back later tonight…alone,” Maria said, and then she shut the door behind her. Tears fell down her cheeks as she sat on the porch swing and called a cab. The cab showed up 5 minutes later and she rode to the Crashdown.

Inside the house, Jim turned angrily to his son. “I know this is a shock and you are pissed off. You have every right. I lied to you, as well as Maria. But so help me god, if you yell at her like that again, I’ll kick your ass.” Jim said.

“You’re fucking unbelieveable. If Anna is your daughter that means you were fucking her when she was in high school. Right after she broke up with Michael. That’s fucking sick,” Kyle growled at his father.

“You could fill the ocean with what you don’t understand about this,” Jim said. “Look, I’m not going to talk to you about this right now. I’m going out. Lock the door when you leave,” Jim said walking out the door and slamming it. He knew he didn’t have any right to be mad. That Kyle had every right to yell at both of them. He had been deceived by the closest people to him, but when Kyle basically accused him of preying on Maria, that hit a nerve and he had to get out of there.

Kyle stalked around the house cursing for at least twenty minutes before he flopped down on the couch. How could this have happened? And it had been going on for 5 years? How did he not know? Why did they lie? Well, he knew the answere to that one.

He was just so fucking pissed. Pissed at Maria, but mostly at his dad. His father was 55 for the love of god. It was wrong. He couldn’t stand for it. But then there was the problem of Anna. She was his sister. God, that was weird. Dammit. How could his whole world come crashing down in one single moment.

Kyle slammed his hands down on the coffee table and brought them up to his head, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “Dammit,” he sait out loud, and then his eyes landed on the notebook in front of him.

In Maria’s beautiful penmanship he read the top of the page that was open. It said, “Jim’s song.” Curiosity got the best of him as he picked up the notebook and started to read the song written there. It was like a bad car accident. He didn’t want to know, but he couldn’t stop himself.

After he read the song, Kyle wiped the tears from his eyes and set the notebook down on the table. After that, how could he stand against them? But they had lied to him. Could he ever forgive them for that? His father and his best friend lied to him. Then again, they were in love, and it isn’t as if Kyle would understand that as a senior in high school. Hell, he didn’t understand in NOW.

He ripped the song out of the notebook and folded it up before waling out of the house. HE sped off down the road and into the desert to think.

**********

Jim got home later that evening and sat down on the couch. The first thing he did was pull out the envelope with the letters from Maria’s stalkers in it. There were probably 30 of them. He couldn’t believe how deranged this guy, or woman was. The one them he noticed in all of the letters, though, was the Zodiac.

These letters were all definatly written by the same person, and that person was into Astrology. He bit his lip in thought. What he needed was the library, but it was closed, and Maria was going to be back any minute. He hadn’t seen her all day and he was worried that kyle’s words might have made her change her mind.

And he couln’t really blame her. The whole situation was beyond fucked up, but he had just gotten her back. And Anna was his daughter, and he wanted a relationship with both of them more than anything in this world. He could kill Kyle. But he also understood.

Jim was pushed out of his thoughts by Maria gently opening the front door. Anna was asleep in her arms and he immediately went to her, kissing her deeply. Maria kissed back but with a hesitancy that hadn’t been there before. “Here, let me tuck her in,” Jim said taking Anna from Maria’s arms.

Maria nodded slightly and Jim took Anna up to kyle’s old room, changing her clothes and tucking her into bed. When he came back downstairs, he saw Maria sitting on the couch, looking through her notebook with a confused look on her face. “Something missing?” Jim asked.

“No,” Maria said shaking her head.

“Maria, talk to me,” Jim almost pleaded. “I know that this isn’t how we wanted Kyle to find out, but at some point he was going to have to.”

“I know, it’s just…Kyle is my best friend. My only friend. And I fucked that up. I don’t regret it, but I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.” Maria said leaning into Jim. Jim wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead.

Then there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it,” Jim said getting off the couch. It was Kyle. Kyle never knocked, and it was weird to see his own son standing at his door nervously.

“Can I come in?” Kyle said shortly. Jim nodded and moved out of the way to let his son in the house. Maria sat up straight on the couch when she saw Kyle some in.

“Hey Kyle,” she said quietly.

“Look, I think we all need to talk,” Kyle said awkwardly.

“I think your right,” Jim said motioning for him to sit down.

Kyle did and then he took a deep breath. “This whole thing is fucked up,” he said. And before Jim could protest he continued. “It hurts that the two people who mean the most to me in the world lied to me. Not to mention how weird it is that my best friend is practically my step mom and the mother of my sister. I feel like I’m trapped in a bad Jerry Springer episode, but I ran across some information today that made me put all of this in perspective.”

“And what was that?” Maria asked, sitting up slightly.

“This,” Kyle said pulling out a piece of paper. “I know you love each other. And while this is all very weird for me, I want to support you, the way that you both have always supported me when everyone else bailed.” Kyle said.

He looked intently and Maria and handed her the piece of paper. “Have you shared this with my dad?” he asked. Maria’s eyes filled with tears and she shook her head.

“No,” she said quietly.

“I think you should sing it for him,” Kyle said with a slight smile.

Jim watched the two intently. He didn’t know what his son was talking about. “I’ll leave you guys alone,” kyle said, “but I really think you should share this with him,” Kyle said.

Maria nodded and stood up to hug him. Kyle hugged her back and kissed her cheek. “I love you,” he said. Then he hugged his father before leaving. “I love you too,” he said to Jim, who was on the verge of tears.

Kyle made his way to the door, and then turned around quickly. “Hey, do you think I could hang out with my sister tomorrow,” he asked.

Maria’s lips turned into a brilliant smile. “Of Course. She would love that,” she said, and with that Kyle left.

“So, what about this song?” Jim asked, curious about the song that had made his sone do such a 180.

“Ummm, well I can play it for you,” Maria said. Jim nodded and Maria moved to the piano. She placed the paper on the music stand and began to play.

Strange how you know inside me
I measure the time and I stand amazed
Strange how I know inside you
My hand is outstretched toward the damp of the haze

And of course I forgive
I've seen how you live
Like a phoenix you rise from the ashes
You pick up the pieces
And the ghosts in the attic
They never quite leave
And of course I forgive
You've seen how I live
I've got darkness and fears to appease
My voices and analogies
Ambitions like ribbons
Worn bright on my sleeve

Strange how we know each other

Strange how I fit into you
There's a distance erased with the greatest of ease
Strange how you fit into me
A gentle warmth filling the deepest of needs

And with each passing day
The stories we say
Draw us tighter into our addiction
Confirm our conviction
That some kind of miracle
Passed on our heads
And how I am sure
Like never before
Of my reasons for defying reason
Embracing the seasons
We dance through the colors
Both followed and led

Strange how we fit each other

Strange how certain the journey
Time unfolds the petals for our eyes to see
Strange how this journey's hurting
In ways we accept as part of fate's decree

So we just hold on fast
Acknowledge the past
As lessons exquisitely crafted
Painstakingly drafted
To carve us as instruments
That play the music of life
For we don't realize
Our faith in the prize
Unless it's been somehow elusive
How swiftly we choose it
The sacred simplicity
Of you at my side

Jim cried openly as he listened to the song. It embodied so much of what he himself felt. It was nice to hear that she felt exactly the same way he did. “Come here, baby,” he said as she finished song. Maria rose off the piano bench and came to him, pulling him off the couch.

She slowly and silently led him to the bedroom. “That’s exactly how I feel. You are mine forever, no matter what,” Maria said kissing Jim on the lips lightly.

He pulled her to him. “And you are mine,” he said.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Maria asked removing his clothes from his body.

“What’s that?’ Jim asked between kisses and he removed her clothes.

“How much it feels like home just when we are around each other.” Maria said.

“It is amazing,” Jim said laying her down on the bed. She spread her legs for him and he began to enter her. “You are amazing,” he said.

“You feel amazing,” Maria groaned as he filled her. “Fuck,” she cried, bucking her hips into him, unable to get him far enough inside her. “I want you so much.” She cried.

“You have me,” he moaned she rolled them over so she was on top. This time she needed to be in control. She rode him long and hard, feeling every cell of her body on fire. “Fuck yeah,” Jim groaned, filling his oragam coming.

Maria reached down and messaged his balls, knowing she was about to come. “Fuck, I’m gonna come, baby. Come with me,” she breathed, her breath hitched and labored.

“Fuck me, SHIT!” Jim cried as he came deep inside Maria.

She followed close behind, crying out his name over and over again.

When she was done, she collapsed on top of him, her light body pressed to his. “God, what did I do to deserve you,” she said breathlessly.

Jim looked at her supirsed. “Baby, you deserve the world,” he said. “And I will try my best to give it to you.” He took a deep breath and jumped over the cliff. “Be with me. Here, forever.” He said.

Maria looked up at him surpised, but when her lips curled into a smile his heart stopped. She nodded and said, “That is the only thing I want.”

“So, will you marry me, Maria?” Jim asked with a gulp.

Maria wrapped her arms tightly around Jim. “Oh baby, you know I will,” she said kissing him hard on the mouth.

TBC…

Chapter 6

The next morning, Maria and Jim were awakened by a bouncing 4 year old in their bed. “Mommy, Daddy wake up!!!!” Anna screeched as she jumped up and down.

Maria moaned and opened her eyes, “5 more minutes, baby,” she said snuggling deeper into Jim who was just as tired.

“NO!” Anna said. “It’s time for mommy and daddy to get up!” she huffed.

Jim giggled at his daughter’s resemblance to her mother when she didn’t get what she wanted. “Like mother like daughter,” he chuckled sitting up.

“Hey,” Maria shot back, finally awake.

Jim just laughed and turned his attention back to Anna. “Ok, we’ll be out in a minute, go get your clothes on. You need help?” Jim said.

“Nope, I’m a big girl I can do it!” Anna said excitedly as she jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.

Maria laughed, “You’re good at this,” she replied kissing him gently on the lips.

“I’ve had practice, remember,” Jim said getting out of bed. He pulled on a clean pair of boxers.

“Oh yeah,” Maria said getting out of bed and putting her clothes on out of her bag. “Let’s just see what our beautiful daughter picked to wear,” she said with a knowing smile, lacing her fingers in Jims and walking out into the living room. There they saw Anna sitting on the couch watching cartoons in her bathing suit and dress shoes.

Maria couldn’t control her laughter as she said, “It’s too cold for a bathing suit, baby. Here let mommy help you,” she said taking her daughters hand. Jim realized at that moment that raising a daughter was a lot harder than as son.

A few minutes later Maria and Anna skipped down the stairs, Anna was now dressed in some jeans and a tee-shirt. “Better,” jim said walking over to his two girl and kissing him lightly on the cheeks.

“Daddy, you can’ kiss mommy,” Anna said disgusted.

“Why not?” he asked lifting her into his arms.

“Because it’s gross,” she said with a disgusted face. Jim laughed.

“How about a breakfast,” He said walking into the kitchen with his daughter still in his arms.

“I hope you don’t expect me to learn to cook,” Maria laughed. “Just because we are going to be man and wife doesn’t mean I’ll ever be a housewife.” She laughed.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said ignoring Anna’s protests and kissing Maria again. He couldn’t belive how wonderful it felt to be able to wake up with her. Cook with her. Kiss and touch her whenever he wanted.

After breakfast, Maria asked Anna, “How would you like to hang out with kyle today?”

“Does he like me?” Anna asked suspiciously.

Maria looked at jim and then back at Anna, “Of Course, baby. He’s your brother, he loves you,” Maria said. She knew that Anna got a much different view of Kyle yesterday when he walked in on them kissing. Anna nodded excitedly and Maria smiled and called Kyle, who said he would be there to pick her up in a few minutes.

When he got to the house, he knocked, yet again and Jim was still upset by that fact. Kyle didn’t need to knock, this was as much his house as it had always been. “Kyle, you don’t have to knock,” Jim said.

“I just didn’t want to interrupt,” he said awkwardly.

“Kyle, this is our house,” Maria said. “Please don’t let that change.”

Kyle just nodded and then when Anna ran over to him, he smiled, “You ready to have fun?” he asked, happ to be able to take his attention away from Maria and his dad.

“YEAH!” Anna said excitedly.

“Ok, well if you need anything call me,” Maria said. She always got nervous when anna went places without her. She couldn’t help it. It was her mothering nature.

Kyle promised to call and when he left, Maria and Jim plopped down on the couch together. “Ahhh, so we have the whole day to ourselves,” Jim said wrapping his arm around Maria and pulling her closer to him.

“Yeah,” Maria said, with something else on her mind.

“What’s the matter?” Jim asked, looking down at her.

“I think we should talk about last night.” Maria said looking up at him. Jim nodded and turned into her.

“I meant what I said.” He said. “I want to be with you forever.” He kissed her lightly.

“And I meant my answer. That is why I wanted to tell you that I’m going to take a sabbatical from the business for a little while. I think I need to be here. With you. Figure out what I’m doing and give us time to be a family.” Maria said with a smile.

“I would love that,” Jim said, “but only if it is what you want. I don’t want you to give up things for me,” he said seriously.

“This is about me. This is what I want. I’ve I was smart I would have realized it before.” Maria said.

“I actually have something to talk to you about as well,” Jim said getting up from the couch. Maria looked up at him, wondering what it was he had to talk to her about.

“What?” Maria asked, concerned at Jim’s worried expression.

“Mark gave me the letters,” he said, knowing that Maria would know what he was talking about.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Maria said getting up and busying herself with cleaning off the kitchen counter.

“I know, baby. But we need to. I read through them and I found an Astrological theme,” he said.

“Mr. Valenti, how would you know anything about Astrology?” Maria smirked.

“Hey, I went to college,” Jim said with a laugh. “Anyway, what I need to do is find out your information along with Anna’s if I’m going to read this map that I think the stalker is trying to allude to.”

“A map?” Maria asked.

“Yeah I think he or she is trying to tell us exactly where they are and what they are going to do by reading a star chart.” Jim explained.

“Ok then. How do we do this?” Maria asked. Jim motioned for her to sit next to him at the computer.

“We need to get astrological profiles for you and Anna and see where all of this fits in.” Jim said. “Ok, what is your birthdate and time?”

“Ummm, July 1, 1983,” Maria said as she watched him type in the information. “At 12:30pm.” She said. Jim nodded as she typed in the information. He clicked the button and printed out a sheet of paper including her star profile and chart.

“What does it say?” Maria asked impatiently. All the words and numbers on it made no sense to her.

“Let me get everything together and then I’ll try to interpret it,” Jim said with a chuckle. Maria sighed and let him continue. “Now, what about Anna?” He felt bad that he didn’t even know his own daughters birthday and time.

“February 2, 2003,” Maria said, “6:43pm.” Jim typed in the info, printed the papers and got up from the computer.

“Ok, well let me compare the results with the letters and see if they add up,” he said pulling out the manila envelope.

“I feel so worthless,” Maria said with a huff as she plopped down on the couch.

“You aren’t worthless Maria, I just need to highlight to similarities between the allusions and your star charts.” Jim said. Maria nodded and waited as Jim sat down with three Astrology books, the charts, and the letters.

“Can I watch TV?” she asked wanting to get her mind off of what was going on.

“You don’t have to ask, Maria. This is your house too.” Jim said looking her in the eye. He didn’t want her to feel like she was a guest in his home. This was her house now, and soon it would be hers completely. When they were married. The thought was so exciting to her. He turned his attention back to the task at hand.

It took him almost two hours to sift through everything, but he kept coming up with the same problem. There was no Scorpio. In either chart, neither Maria nor Anna had Scorpio in their chart and there were very clear references to the scorpion. He scratched his head as he thought, and as Maria reentered the room, from making them lunch, she asked, “What’s the matter?” she asked.

“The Scorpio. I can’t find it!” jim said. Maria had to chuckle at that.

“Well, did you try YOUR chart?” Maria asked. It was a long shot, but maybe whoever was after her knew about him. Maybe that was why they were so concerned with Anna.

Jim hadn’t thought of that. Hell, it was worth a try. It might also explain some of the other discrepancies in the letters. He walked back over to the computer and typed in his own birth information, May 14th, 1952 at 7:33pm. He printed out his information and his mouth hung open as he read it. “It’s me.” He said.

“What?” Maria asked.

Jim showed her the paper, “You see, I’m a Taurus sun sign. But my moon sign is Scorpio as well as my True Node, 1st house, 5th house, and 6th house. That explains everything!” he said going back to the letters. He pulled out his highlighter yet again and went to work. Maria just watched. He seemed to be onto something.

“Ok,” Jim said looking up. He picked up his notes and turned to her. “I think I’ve figured it out. With the star chart of you, me, and Anna, along with the clues the stalker has given, I think I’ve figured out, not only where, but also when an attack is going to happen.”

“Wait, back track. How did you figure that out?” Maria asked. He had confused her.

“Ok, When we are born, the stars are aligned in a certain way. It creates this chart, and that is what the stalker is alluding to. On a certain day, all three of our charts come together. The one sign we all have in common the most is the Taurus, and we are all actually aligned in the stars on May 18th, 2007.” Jim explained.

“That’s in 3 weeks,” Maria said. “How do you know where this is going to happen?”

“Well, where we are born is also a factor in where the stars line up, and our stars not only line up on May 18th, but also in Roswell, NM.” Jim said.

“Get out!” Maria said. It was crazy to think that all of this came from Jim’s research.

“That explains why The Stalker alludes to the Bull, Scorpio, and Crab.” Jim said walking back over to the computer. He punched in the numbers for May 18th, 2007 as an event rather than a birth and nodded. “Yeah, that is weird,” Jim said. “You see, the Sun, Moon, Ascendant signs for that date are Taurus, Scorpio, Cancer.” Jim said.

“I just got goosebumps,” Maria said. “What does it say about that particular day?” Maria asked.

Jim began reading, “Ok, that day for a Cancer, which is what you are says: This day is a day of great change. Past characters of your life make a huge impact on you. They say that life is made up of a few large moments, and one of those will happen on this day. That is not to say that this will be a day you want to remember. Someone or something you love will be taken from you.” Jim stopped when he heard Maria’s breath quicken. “baby, don’t worry. I’m not going to let anything happen.” He said, then he continued reading. “Avoid other water signs on this day. The thief is a water sign, as water loves to react to earth.”

“Oh my god,” Maria said when he was done reading.

“Look, I’m going to run this over to the boys at the station. Trust me, now that when know when he or she will strike we can be ready,” Jim said running his hands up and down her arms. “I also think we should talk to Kyle. He will be around a lot and he already knows about the stalker,” Jim said.

“Yeha, that’s fine.” Maria said, still a little in shock. Then a thought struck her. “Hey, if they know about you, doesn’t that mean they have to be someone we both know? That rules out just any crazy fan,” she said.

“You’re right.” Jim said scratching his head. “I can’t possibly think of who could know.”

“Me either,” Maria said.

“Well, they will reveal themselves soon enough,” Jim said with a shrug. There was nothing they could do but protect Maria because not matter how easy it had been for him to decode the letter, he had no clue who sent them.

“I don’t want to let Anna go with anyone but you, me, and Kyle,” Maria said finally. “I want to know that she is protected.”

“I agree,” jim said. He pulled Maria to him and brought her down on the ouch next to him. “Let’s just relax today. Nothing is going to happen today, and we’ve got time to ourselves. Let’s just enjoy it,” he said.

Maria smiled and gave in. “Ok, baby.” She said letting him hold her in his strong protective arms.

TBC…

Chapter 7

When Kyle brought Anna back, that evening, Maria invited him in for dinner. “Please stay for dinner,” she said. She didn’t want all this weirdness with Kyle. She could understand his position, but she wanted things to go back to how they were. Kyle was her best friend, she didn’t know if she could go on with this distance between them.

“Ok,” Kyle shrugged uneasily. He entered the house and moved over to the couch, sitting next to his dad.

“Hey, son,” Jims said putting his arm around Kyle. “I’m glad you came to dinner,” he smiled. He hoped this could be the start of them mending their relationship. He knew he was being optimistic, but he loved his son, and he loved Maria and he wanted to have them both in his life.

“So, what’s for dinner?” Kyle asked.

“You know me, Spaghetti,” Maria giggled.

“SPAGHETTI!!!!” Anna cried in excitement.

Maria laughed, “What can I say, the girl likes spaghetti,” she said. “Ok, it’s ready.”

Maria set the table and put the spaghetti down in the center. Kyle, Jim, and Anna took their seats, and Maria sat down last. “This looks really good,” Kyle said, still awkwardly.

“Thank you,” Maria smiled and dished some food out for her daughter. Dinner was pretty quiet. Maria and Jim made their attempts to start conversation, but nothing ever really followed through. Kyle didn’t say much. He just answered Maria’s questions mono-syllabically. Maria sighed and continued to eat. Jim placed his hand on her knee, under the table for support.

“So, Anna, what did you and Kyle do today?” Maria asked, in a final attempt to get dinner conversation going.

“Oh mommy, Unka Kyle is fun,” Anna said, chomping on her garlic bread. Maria smiled at the term uncle. Kyle must have told her that. That was a start, right? He was her brother, but that was probably still too wired for him. “We went to the zoo, and then a movie.” Anna said excitedly.

“That’s good baby, what movie did you see?” Jim asked.

“Ummmm…uhhhh…I can’t remember the name,” Anna pouted.

“It was a revival of The Seven Dwarfs,” Kyle answered with a smile as he looked at Anna. He had had a great time hanging out with Anna today. He loved being an brother/uncle. He didn’t know how is was possible to love someone so much that he just met.

“Ok, well I’ll get the dishes,” Jim said getting up from the table.

“Thank you,” Maria smiled, then she turned to Kyle. “Hey, would you like to hang out?” she asked, like she was in high school again. Kyle looked up at her almost scared for a moment, but shook is head.

“Yeah, what do you want to do?” he asked. I nearly broke Maria’s heart. Things didn’t used to be like this. They used to laugh, have fun, everything. Now everything was different.

“Jim, can you watch Anna? Kyle and I are going to go out,” Maria called into the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Jim said, “I’ll see you when you get back.” He called back. He hoped that Kyle would open up to Maria. He knew that his distance was killing Maria.

“Bye MOMMY!” Anna yelled back. She was busy helping her father wash the dishes.

“Bye baby,” Maria said with a smile as she lead Kyle out of the house. “You wanna drive?” she asked, handing Kyle the keys to Jim’s jeep.

“Nah, you better drive. You know where we are going.” Kyle said, getting into the passenger seat. Maria sighed and brought the car to life, and sped down the road.

She headed out to the desert, to the rock where the pod-squad used to meet before Michael got his apartment. Maria needed to talk to Kyle, and she figured that was the best place to do it.

When she parked the car, Kyle looked around and said, “What are we doing here?”

“We need to talk, Kyle. Just you and me. I just wanted o go to a place from our past where no one will bother us.” Maria said. “Come, get out,” she said with a smile as she pulled out a blanket and set is down on the ground. Kyle got out and joined her, sitting on the blanked.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” He asked, knowing very well what the topic of conversation was going to be.

“Kyle,” Maria said giving him her famous, ‘you-know-what-this-is-about’ eyes. “We need to talk about us. Our friendship.” Maria said.

“I told you I understood,” Kyle said with a shrug. He knew he wasn’t getting off that easy, but hell, h e could try.

Maria turned his face to look her in the eyes. “I know you did. And I believe you, but the problem is, you are my best friend. Or you were, before all of this came out, and now you are avoiding me. You are acting weird around me, and I just want things to be like they used to,” Maria almost begged.

Kyle looked into her eyes, and saw how hurt she was. He hated it, but he couldn’t help the way he felt. “I’m sorry, Maria. It’s just hard,” he said sitting up straighter. “I love you, you know. You are my best friend. Still. But your with my FATHER. I mean, it’s weird, Maria.” Kyle said.

Maria nodded in understanding. “I know, but that isn’t all that I am. I’m not just your father’s fiancé,” Maria said.

Kyle’s eyes doubled in size, “His what?”

“Oh shit, I guess I didn’t mention that,” Maria said biting her lip. “Look, I know it is weird. It’s weird for me, too, but I can’t help who I love. But I’m still Maria. I’m still your friend. I’m still the girl who helped you through remedial science. I’m still your friend. And I still love you.” Maria said honestly.

She sighed, frustrated. “Please, Kyle. I need you. You are not only my best friend, but my only friend. I’m still 23. I love your father, but I need you, too. You know what I’m going through, what I’ve been through. It’s killing me that I have to force you to look my in the eyes,” Maria said, tears coming to her eyes.

“Maria, don’t cry,” Kyle said as he wiped a few stray ones from her face. “I want our old friendship back too. But being with you and my dad, its just too weird. Even for me,” he said with a little chuckle.

“What about us? Just you and me? Can you do that?” Maria asked, hopfully.

“Yeah, I mean I can try. Look, were here, right now. Hanging out,” he said motioning to their surroundings.

“Yeah, and what are we talking about? Me and your father.” She rolled her eyes. “Let’s talk about you,” she said laying back on the blanket. “How’s work?”

Kyle laughed a hearty laugh and said, “You SUCK at small talk.” He laid back on the blanket next to Maria.

“Yeah, well you know, we went straight from hating each other to being thrown together. I missed out on the small talk with you,” Maria laughed. “but really, how are things going with you?”

Kyle sighed and said, “Well, I’m head mechanic at Toby’s. Things haven’t been so glamorous for me.” He looked down at his feet. “But I’m happy. Still looking to get laid,” he said with a laugh.

“Oh Kyle, some things never change.” Maria laughed. She was so happy to be talking to Kyle again. They spent the next couple of hours catching up, talking and laughing. She told him about the stalker and what Jim had found out and Kyle told her he would help in any way he could. They didn’t talk about Maria and Jim’s relationship, and Maria wad fine with that. Her relationship didn’t define her.

*********

Maria walked into the house later that night and saw Jim sitting on the couch. “How did it go?” He asked, hopefully.

“Good,” Maria said with a smile as she sat down next to Jim. “It went really well. I talked to him, told him how I felt and we talked. It was great. I think the important thing is that for a while we keep our relationship separate from Kyle.” Maria said.

Jim didn’t like it,, but he nodded in understanding. “That’s fine. But one day he is going to have to accept this,” Jim said.

Maria turned around and looked at him, “He’s trying. This is hard. You have to understand that,” she said.

“I do. I just hate having to hide my feelings for you.” Jim said holding her close.


“You don’t have to. We just have to be careful of Kyle’s feelings. I know he will come around. He still is my best friend.” Maria said.

“I know, baby.” Jim said. “Let’s just get to bed. It’s been a long day. We’ve got to talk to the police tomorrow,” he said.

“Alright,” Maria said. “Have any trouble getting Anna to sleep?”

“Nope, I think Kyle tired her out,” Jim laughed as he got into his Pajamas.

Maria slipped into bed and Jim got behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “Night, night.”

“Mmm, Night,” Maria said almost asleep already.

TBC…

Chapter 8

“Ok, we are just going to go in and talk to Dep…Sheriff Hanson.” Jim said as he opened Maria’s door for her the next day. She nodded, already knowing this. Jim seemed to be a little nervous today, which was only making her more nervous. Maybe he didn’t think they could find the creep who was stalking her. Maybe he was doubtful about his theory.

“What’s wrong?” Maria asked, taking Jim’s hand and stopping him before they entered the police station.

“Nothing,” Jim said, reassuringly. “I just want to get the police on the same page as I am.” Jim said with a smile.

“Ok,” Maria said, smiling and following him into the station.

The bullpen was bustling when they entered. Or, well as bustling as Roswell, NM gets. There were at least 3 drunk men in the tank, and a couple of kids waiting for their parents to pick them up. “Jim!” Hanson called out from the desk. “What are you doing here? And Maria DeLuca. Well, well, well, haven’t seen you in a VERY long time.” He smiled, seemingly happy to have someone to talk to. His deputies seemed to have their hands full.

“Actually, we have something to talk to you about,” Jim said warmly, but still seriously.

“Sure, Jim,” Hanson said. “Step into my office,” he said leading Jim and Maria into his office.

“What can I do you for?” Hanson asked, motioning for them to sit down. Jim looked around at the office that used to be his. It was weird. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he missed it.

“Well, here’s the thing.” Jim started. “Maria is being stalked.”

“Stalked?” Hanson said surprised.

Jim pulled out the stack of letters from the stalker and set it in front of Hanson. “These are the letters from the stalker.” Jim said, and for the next half an hour, he explained his theory, answering thousands of questions from the Sheriff.

“And you are sure about this, Jim?” Hanson asked.

“I really think this is what the stalker is doing,” Jim said, “And as Maria’s fiancé and former Sheriff, I’d appreciate it if I could be apart of this investigation.”

“Of course,” Hanson said emphatically. “Yes, we will keep each other in the loop. For now, maybe we should keep Ms. DeLuca under police watch.”

“No!” Maria said, quickly. The last thing she wanted was a fresh crop of body guards.

Jim wrapped his arm around her. “I don’t think that will be necessary. We can hold off on that until we get closer to the 18th.” Jim said.

“Ok, Jim.” Hanson said standing up and extending his hand. Jim shook it and then Hanson turned to Maria. “No worries, Ms. DeLuca. We will get this guy.” He smiled and Maria smiled back.

“Thank you,” Maria said hugging the man that used to be the bumbling deputy under Jim. “I trust you,” she smiled, knowing that was what he really wanted to hear.

*********

“We’re home!” Maria called into the house as she and Jim got back. Kyle was sitting with Anna in his lap on the couch and motioned for them to be quiet as she had fallen asleep. Maria smiled at the brother and sister.

“Ok, I’m just going to take a nap.” Maria whispered, with a smile. Kyle nodded and Jim sat next to his son on the couch with a beer.

“Want me to take her upstairs?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah, go ahead.” Jim smiled, and Kyle lifted Anna into his arm and carried her up to his old room.

When he returned to the living room, he plopped down on the couch next to his dad and sighed. “She’s only been asleep for a few minutes, so she will probably wake up with maria.” Kyle informed Jim.

“Thanks Kyle. You didn’t have to miss work, did you?” Jim asked.

“Nope, I’ve got the day off. So how did it go at the police station?” Kyle asked, still very worried about this stalker he knew nothing about.

“Good. Hanson is all over it. And of course Maria and Anna have you and I to keep an eye on them.” Jim said sipping his beer. “Oh, speaking of that. I would like to make sure that Anna isn’t left alone. I want her to be with one of us all the time.”

“Of course. I’m all over it,” Kyle said, only too willing to help out the newest member of his family. “What about Maria?”

“Well, you know her.” Jim chuckled. “She is only going to do what she wants.”

“Oh yeah. DeLuca is a firecracker.” Kyle laughed.

“So, you staying for dinner?” Jim asked, having nothing really planned to eat.

“Ummm, yeah, sure. Think Maria will be out long?” He asked flipping the channel on the TV to the baseball game.

“Don’t know.” Jim said, watching the TV. “She’s been really tired. I think she I s just catching up on all her sleep from the tour. They had her working very hard.” Kyle just nodded and watched the game. Neither one of them really wanted to deal with any thoughts of the stalker, so they just thought about the Cubs game in front of them.

*********

The next night, Anna stayed at Kyle’s house because Jim asked him to. He wanted to spend the night alone with Maria. “So, what is this?” Maria asked with a grin as she walked into the house and saw it lit up with candles.

“Nothing,” Jim smiled warmly at Maria. “Just wanted to make you dinner.” He said. It was the first dinner he’d made for her. He wanted tonight to be special.

“Aww, baby.” Maria gushed as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. She kissed him lightly on the lips and he deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth. “MMM,” she moaned as she pulled away from him.

“So, where is Anna? Kyle’s?” Maria asked.

“Yep. We’ve got the whole night to ourselves.” Jim smiled. Maria beamed at him as she followed him into the dinning room where he had set up dinner.

“It looks amazing.” Maria marveled at the spread in front of her.

Jim smiled at the compliment and they both eat like kings. When they were done, Jim brought out dessert and laid on top of Maria’s brownie was a velvet box. “Jim,” she said surprised as she looked at it.

Jim got down on one knee and took the box in hand. “Maria, I know I already asked you this, but I wanted to do it right.” He smiled, and as he looked into her eyes, he could see the tears shinning there. “Will you marry me?” he asked opening the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.

“You know my answer is yes,” she said pulling him into her.

They never got to dessert as She pulled Jim to his feet and walked him back to the bedroom, leaving the mess in the kitchen for the morning. Tonight was their night.

TBC…

Chapter 9

A week passed, with not much action. Maria, Jim, and Anna spent a lot of time together, being a real family. They explained to Anna that they were getting married, and she couldn’t be more excited. “Mommy, do I get to be in the wedding?!” she asked excitedly when Maria started to explain the process of getting married to her daughter.

“Of Course, baby. You are my maid of honor,” she smiled. She hadn’t really made close friends outside of the ones she made in high school, and she hadn’t talked to Liz or Izzy in at least 4 years. Besides, it was only perfect that Jim and Maria’s daughter stand with them at their wedding.

However, neither one of them could forget that the !8th was fast approaching. They tried not to talk about it, but on the night of the 17th, when Jim got home from work, he fond Maria crying on the couch. “Are you ok?” he asked, moving to her side quickly.

“I’m just worried,” she said. “I know you say not to, but I can’t help it.” She cried.

“Baby, I’m worried too.” He admitted. “Tomorrow I’m not leaving your side. And neither is Kyle. And Hanson is on emergency call at all times. Whoever comes here to do whatever it is they want to do, will not get far.” He assured her.

Maria sniffled and nodded. “I know you are right. And I could take just about anything, but if this person takes you or Anna away from me, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“The future is not permanent.” Jim said, “Anything can be changed.”

Maria smiled at that. He always knew exactly what she needed to hear. “Common,” she said, motioning for the bedroom. “Kyle has Anna at his house until early tomorrow morning.” She grinned.

Jim chuckled and followed her. “I’m an old man, be gentle.” He laughed. Maria just giggled at him as she kicked the door shut.

***********

The alarm woke Maria and Jim up early the next morning. As much as they would have liked to have slept the day away, they realized they couldn’t. Jim pushed Maria’s shoulder. “Baby, it’s time to wake up,” he said softly.

“Mmmm,” she moaned, rolling over to face him. He smiled at her sleepy face and kissed her lightly on the lips. “We better go get Anna.” Maria said with a stretch.

“Kyle’s bringing her over,” Jim said, looking at the clock, “probably now.”

Maria nodded and pulled her robe on. “Kay, well I’m going to take a shower.” She said, still aching for the previous night’s activities. Jim nodded and put on his own robe before moving into the kitchen to make breakfast.

He looked around the house, first. Making sure the house was still safe and no one snuck in, in the middle of the night. When he was satisfied that everything was as it should be, he went back into the kitchen, started coffee and breakfast.

Soon, Maria joined him and took over the cooking while he took his turn in the shower. It wasn’t long after that when Kyle entered the door, a hyper Anna in toe. “Sorry,” he laughed. “She got a lot of sleep yesterday, so she’s a little wound up.”

Maria chuckled. “Well, that’s probably good. Wasn’t going to let her have a nap today.” She said, making plates for everyone.

When Jim joined them the table had already been set and Anna was impatiently waiting to eat. “Daddy!” she cried, running into his arms. He’d never get sick of that name. Kyle hadn’t used it in about 18 years.

After breakfast, Kyle, Maria, Jim, and Anna dove into a stack of board games. The plan was to stay home all day. If someone showed up at Valenti’s they felt mor comfortable there. Plus, Hanson would be close by.

“Mommy, are we staying here all day!” Anna whined, 4 hours into Monopoly.

“Yes,” she sighed. “We need to stay home.”

“Why?” Anna asked.

“Because,” Maria answered, not knowing how to truly answer her daughter’s question.

“Because why?” she asked, and Maria knew she would. She looked at Jim and Kyle for help.

Kyle took matters into his own hand. “Because it’s family day!” he said excitedly. “We have to stay home and spend time with our families.” He said. Maria held back the laughter as she watched Kyle try to make something up on the spot. But Anna seemed to buy it because she started playing the game with more excitement.

************

It was 6:00pm and nothing had happened. Anna was getting restless and the adults were getting more and more anxious at time went on.

“Mommy, can we get ice cream?” Anna asked.

“I’ve got some,” she said, a perky smile on her face. Anna seemed to cheer up as she followed her mother into the kitchen.

Maria was dishing out the ice cream when Jim heard a creak above his head. His ears tuned into the sound, trying to hear if it was the wind. How would someone have gotten upstairs without their knowing?

“Dad, what is it?” Kyle asked.

Jim motioned for him to be quiet as he perked up his ears. He heard a soft thud above him, and his eyes widened. “Get Anna,” he said. “Get her out of here,” he ordered his son.

Kyle nodded, and got Anna from the Kitchen.

“Baby, what’s going on?” Maria asked panicked.

“I hear something upstairs. Call Hanson, and get out of the house.” Jim answered.

“No, I’m not leaving you.” Maria said, holding her ground. She kissed Anna and let Kyle take her from the house. “Keep her safe.” She begged, tears coming to her eyes.

“Promise.” Kyle said, kissing Maria on the cheek.

Kyle reached for the door handle, Anna in his arms. “Shit,” he said, forgetting about Anna’s age as he turned the knob and noticed it was stuck. “Can’t get out.” He said, trying not to show the panic in his voice.

Maria’s eyes went wide. “What!” she screeched. “Oh God!”

Jim turned to her. “Calm down, honey.” He said, though he was scared too. “Kyle, just don’t let go of Anna.”

“Mommy, you guys are scaring me.” Anna said, almost crying. Kyle ran his fingers through her hair and tried to soothe her.

“Don’t be scared, baby.” Maria said kissing her daughter on the cheek. “Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Kyle will protect you, ok. Can you be a big, strong girl for mommy?” she asked.

Anna snuffled and nodded. “Yes,’ she said, quietly, but she was willing to be a big girl for her mother.

Maria came to Jim’s side. “Stay down here,” Jim said, starting for the stairs.

“No,” Maria said, pulling him back, “Don’t go up there. Let him come down here.” She said.

Jim conceded to her, though he would have rather met whoever was upstairs where his fiancé and children where not in the room. But he knew Maria, and if he went upstairs, she would just follow.

He didn’t have to think about it long though, because soon he could hear someone moving down the stairs. The person had to have been male. The fall of the footsteps was too heavy to be a woman.

When the intruder showed himself, everyone in the room gasped. “What the fuck?” Kyle gasped, the only one to speak in the room, as surprise hushed the room.

An evil grin passed across the stalker’s face. “Let the games begin,” he laughed maniacally, moving completely into the room.

TBC…

Chapter 10

“Max?” Maria questioned in awe. “What…why….” She couldn’t quite get a handle on what was happening. Why was Max there? And why was he looking at her like that?

“Yes, Maria.” Max said, a grin painted on his features. “I’m the one you four have been waiting on, rather patiently, all day.”

Jim’s features hardened, Maria and Kyle looked at each other in question, and Anna clung to Kyle for dear life. “You’re the stalker?” Maria finally asked, her voice filled with awe.

“I wouldn’t use the word stalker, per say, but yes, I’m the one to has been sending you the letters.” Max answered, moving closer to the group.

“Why?” Jim asked, his voice gruff. He was not about to let his guard down, but you couldn’t understand why Max would want to hurt any of them. They hadn’t even talked to Max in years.

“Funny you should ask,” Max said, making himself comfortable on the couch. Maria began shaking as she watch how at ease he was in their home. This was not the Max she knew from high school. This Max was confident, cool, and extremely scary. “I think Maria knows why I’m here.” He said, staring daggers into her.

Maria’s eyes went wide. No, it couldn’t be about that. “Please, just let Jim, Kyle, and Anna go.” She pleaded.

“What the hell is going on here?” Jim boomed causing Anna to jump. He immediately felt bad about scaring his daughter, but he was confused and Maria seemed to know why Max might be after her.

“Let them go and we can talk,” Maria said trying to fake her last bits of courage.

“No,” Max said, “I think the whole room would like to be here for this.” He said, a bite in his voice that he couldn’t quite cover.

“What is this about?” Maria said.

Max’s face grew into a great smile as he through his head back and laughed. “Still in denial, Maria?” he asked.

“Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on here?” Kyle finally spoke up. He had never liked Max, and he certainly woudn’t have a problem seeing him get into some big trouble but he and Maria were confusing the fuck out of him.

“I’ll tell you.” Max offered. “It seems the cat’s got Maria’s tongue.” He looked at Kyle, then Jim, then finally Maria. “I’m sure you are not aware that Maria and I were fuck buddies in high school.”

Maria closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. That had been 5 years ago and never meant anything. Why was he bringing this up? Why was he stalking her over some meaningless sex in high school? “Can you please let Anna go? She doesn’t need to hear any of this.” Maria said.

Jim was shocked at her admission. She basically admitted that what Max said was true. When did all of this happen? Wasn’t she will Michael? And then him?

“You mean, you don’t want your daughter to know you are a whore? I think she’s already figured it out. The poor girl didn’t even know who her father was until she was 4 years old.” Max scoffed.

“Fuck you!” Maria yelled, ready to attack, but Jim pulled her back to him trying to calm her down. Angering Max was probably not a good idea right at this moment.

“Been there, done that,” Max said, pulling himself off the couch. He made his way over to Maria, and finally backed her up against the wall.

“What do you want from me?” Maria asked, no longer trying to hide the tears in her eyes. Max was already holding Jim and Kyle back with his barrier.

“All I’ve ever wanted was to be with you, Maria.” Max said, his voice softer now.

“What?” Maria asked, more confused than ever.

“I knew you weren’t happy with Michael. I was just waiting it out until you broke it off for good. Then you get with Valenti?!?” Max ranted.

“Max, look, it wasn’t ever anything like that. I thought we were just screwing around,” Maria said, trying desperately to get Max to see reason.

“You knew I loved you!” he screamed.

On the other side of the green barrier, Kyle and Jim stood helpless. They didn’t know what was going on, but they could hear everything. Anna couldn’t understand what the adults were talking about but she was scared. She was clinging to Kyle in a death grip and crying.

“Max, what are you talking about?” Maria asked. “Look, we can talk about this calmly and rationally.” She tried.

“NO!” Max yelled, his barrier wavered just long enough for Jim to jump into action, knocking Max down on the ground. Maria moved away and ran to Kyle and Anna.

Max threw Jim off of him, the force of hitting the wall knocking the wind out of him. “Stop it, Max.” Maria cried.

“I need you, Maria.” Max pleaded. “Don’t you remember what it was like being together.” He was completely irrational at this point. It was obvious he had been harboring these feeling since she left town and she had never known.

“If you loved me you would not hurt the people I love,” Maria breathed between tears.

“But I love you, Maria.” Max said. “We can leave all of this behind.” He said, coming closer. Maria moved further away from him, trying to shield Anna, in case Max were to do something else stupid.

Just then there was a banging at the door, then what sounded like someone trying to break it down. “Hanson, I assume?” Max grinned, not at all concerned with the bumbling town sheriff. He was an alien after all.

“I didn’t call him,” Maria said, looking at Kyle and Jim in confusion.

Suddenly the door burst open and Michael and Isabel came running through. “Are you ok?” they asked Maria at the same time. They looked over and saw Max standing there, a look of shock on his face.

“Max, what are you doing?” Isabel asked, her hands on her hips like she was chastising one of her children, not her brother.

“I told you to leave me alone!” Max whined. He almost sounded like a toddler.

“Maxwell, come on,” Michael said, in an i-mean-business tone.

“No! You got your chance with her. You can’t have her!” Max yelled.

Michael sighed and used his power to pin Max to the wall. He looked at Isabel who nodded, tears in her eyes. “Just do it,” she said, turning away.

“Get your daughter in the other room,” Michael said to Maria. She nodded and took Anna from Kyle and hurried into the master bedroom. There was a loud crash and a short scream from Max, then silence. Her heart was racing, but she knew she had to keep her daughter safe no matter what happened.

“Stay here, baby,” she said to Anna as she slowly made her way back into the living room. There was a pile of ash where Max had been. “What did you do?” she asked, looking at Michael and Isabel.

“Max killed Liz.” Michael finally said. The impact of what he had just done was not lost on him, but he knew it was for the best.

“What?!” Maria asked, nearly collapsing on the couch. Sure, she hadn’t kept in contact, but Liz used to be her best friend and now she was dead.

“We think Kivar or Tess got to him, we don’t know.” Isabel said, tears in her eyes. “He’s been out of it for 2 years now, and…” she was full on crying at this point, and Michael pulled her to him.

“He has been violent and acting like he was the king again, only worse. Then he killed Liz. That’s when we found out he’d been stalking you. We didn’t think he was going to do anything, but then Isabel dreamwalked him, and now we are here,” Michael summed up.

“But, couldn’t you have helped him?” Maria asked.

“Don’t you think we’ve tried!” Isabel cried. “We’ve tried everything. It was him or us, and we had to choose us!” she finally said.

Jim finally got his footing and walked over to Maria, pulling her to him. “Where’s Anna?” he asked.

“The bedroom,” Maria said, still in a daze.

“Thank you for saving me,” Maria said, her eyes fixed on Michael.

“It’s what we do,” he said, sadly. “We better go.”

“No, stay,” Maria said, not really ready for this reunion to end like this.”

“No, I think we better go,” Michael said, taking Isabel’s hand in his. Before they left Michael shot a long look back at Maria, “You look really good, Maria.”

“So do you, Michael,” she said, holding her tears just long enough to watch him go.

She cried hard for a long time. Finally, she heard Jim soothing her and holding her in his arms. “Maria, it’s ok now. Everything is ok.” He said.

Kyle stood there awkwardly for the longest time. He really didn’t know how to wrap his mind around what happened. Max tried to attack his family because apparently he and Maria had been involved in high school. Then Isabel and Michael showed up and killed him. He needed a drink…a stiff one.

Maria finally returned to her surroundings and wrapped her arms around Jim tight. “Anna!” she called for her daughter, who quickly ran into the room and into her parents’ laps.

“Is the mean man gone mommy?” she asked.

“Yes, baby. He’s gone.” Maria answered. “We are goig to be ok.” She smiled, her eyes too dry for anymore tears.

“I should probably go too,” Kyle said, shuffling his feet. He felt awkward witnessing such an intimate moment.

“No, stay,” Maria said getting of the couch. “I’ll make dinner and you should stay the night.” She really didn’t want to think about any of them being along tonight. She knew Max was gone, but she still felt better with her whole family in one place.

“Ok,” Kyle said with a smile. “But first I’m going to vacuum.” He said. HE didn’t think he could stay in the room one more second with Max’s ashes on the floor.

**************

That night, Maria snuggled in bed with Jim. Anna and Kyle were already asleep in Kyle’s old room. “I think we need to talk,” Maria said, looking up at Jim.

“We don’t have to do this, Maria. What you didn’t in high school doesn’t really matter.” He said.

“You forget I did you in high school,” she smirked. “And created Anna.”

“Touché,” Jim returned. “But you don’t have to tell me.”

“I want to,” Maria said. “It all started after Liz left for Florida, that summer you found out about the aliens.” Maria said, playing with the hem of Jim’s shirt. “Max and I sought comfort in each other that summer, and one night, one thing led to another and…well you know.”

Jim held her tighter. It was hard to hear about all this, especially since it was the last thing he had expected, but he knew she needed to get this off her chest.

“Anyway, anytime one of us was really down and out we hooked up. It was just something that we did to dull the pain. I never really thought it was anything else.” Maria explained. The bit her lip and continued with the hard part. “After you and I made love, I called him up and I slept with him one last time before I left.”

Jim’s face fell slightly, but he tried not to show it. He didn’t care what she did in the past. He loved her, and that was all that mattered.

“I just wanted to tell myself what I felt for you was nothing more than lust.” Maria cried, holding him tighter. “But all I realized is that no one could ever touch me like you did. “ she finished.

Jim tilted her head to look at him. “Maria, none of that matters now.” He said. “I know how high school is. It wasn’t THAT long ago that I was a teenager. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think you had more than just one other sexual partner besides me.” Jim said.

“So you aren’t mad?” Maria asked.

“No, baby. I love you. We are a family. What you did 5 years ago as a confused teenager has no bearing on who you are now or what we have.” He assured her.

Maria smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Thank you so much,” she said. “I love you too.” With that, she clicked off the light and the two held each other through the night, knowing tomorrow was the start of the rest of their lives.

The end.